Managing Your Server
Managing Your Server
41 Articles
How to Enable and Manage a Minecraft Whitelist
Whitelisting is a feature that allows you to limit the players who can access your Minecraft server. When enabled, only whitelisted players can join your server. This is a good way to prevent unwanted players from joining and making changes to your server. This functionality is built into every Java Edition Minecraft server out of the box. If you wish to add a whitelist to your Bedrock server, you will need to follow a different guide that can be found here. ::ProseNote{title="Important" description="Players with op will automatically bypass the whitelist, allowing them access to the server regardless of the whitelist. Ensure that only trusted individuals are granted operator on your server." appearance="default"} :: Setting Up a Whitelist One way you can enable whitelisting on your Minecraft server is by configuring it in your file and restarting the server. However, we will cover how to set up whitelisting using console commands, as it does not require you to restart or turn off your server at any point. You can also send these commands in-game if you have OP permissions. Please refer to this guide for more information on how to become an OP. 1. Open your server's Control Panel. 2. In the Server Console window, enter the command. You can enable or disable the whitelist on your server using one of the following commands: - This command enables whitelisting. Once enabled, only players on your whitelist can join. - This command disables the whitelist. All players can join the server like normal. --- Managing a Whitelist After enabling the whitelist, only players who are specifically added to the whitelist and players with OP permissions will be able to connect to the server. You can add or remove players from the whitelist using one of the following console commands. Keep in mind, players with OP permission can also use these commands in-game: - After replacing <Username with the name of the player you'd like to whitelist, this will add them to the whitelist immediately. - After replacing <Username with the name of the player you'd like to remove from the whitelist, this will immediately remove them from the whitelist if they were on it before. That's it! You have successfully learned how to use a whitelist to secure your server.
How to Disable TNT and Creeper Explosions in Minecraft
Explosions can be dangerous and can cause damage to your builds, the terrain, or player health. Although it is possible, undoing the effects of explosions may be difficult. It is for this reason that options in-game are available to control explosions in your server. You can also enable or disable specific kinds, like TNT and creeper explosions. These are made possible using plugins and game rules. ::ProseNote{title="Note" description="You must be a server operator (OP) to be able to use the /gamerule and /region commands. If you are not yet an operator, check out our tutorial here: How to get OP on a Minecraft Server" appearance="danger"} :: Control Explosions Using Game Rules Game rules are features available in vanilla Minecraft which allow you to modify gameplay without the use of mods or plugins. Below are the game rule commands to enable or disable different kinds of explosions: | Command | Description | |---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | This command will only work in the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft. For Java Edition, refer to the “Control Explosions Using Plugin” section below. <br<brIf set to true, TNT explosions are enabled in your Minecraft worlds. This is the default value. <br<brIf set to false, TNT explosions are disabled in your Minecraft worlds. | | | If set to true, explosions caused by mobs will be enabled. This is the default value. <br<brIf set to false, explosions caused by mobs will be disabled. <br<brThis game rule will also affect the ability of mobs to make changes to the world or pick items up e.g. endermen | You can find more information on Game Rules in this article: How to Use Game Rules in Minecraft --- Control Explosions Using a Plugin (WorldGuard) If you are running a server type that allows plugins like Spigot and would like to have more control over the specific explosions you would like to control, you can use the plugin called WorldGuard to do this. You need to have WorldGuard and WorldEdit plugins installed on your server to use this option. WorldGuard plugin page WorldEdit plugin page You may refer to our knowledgebase tutorial on installing plugins on your server: How to Install Plugins on a Minecraft Server If you already have these plugins installed, you may refer to the commands below to control explosions on your server: ::ProseNote{title="Note" description="These commands will only affect the worlds where they are used. You will need to teleport to the worlds in your server and enter the commands to change explosion settings for each world." appearance="danger"} :: | Command | Description | |--------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | If set to allow, TNT explosions will be enabled in your Minecraft world. This is the default value. <br<brIf set to deny, TNT explosions will be disabled. | | | If set to allow, explosions caused by creepers will be enabled. This is the default value. <br<brIf set to deny, explosions caused by creepers will be disabled. | | | If set to allow, other kinds of explosions will be enabled. This is the default value. <br<brIf set to deny, other kinds of explosions will be disabled. | That's it! You now know how to enable or disable explosions on your Minecraft server.
How to Disable Online Mode on a Minecraft Server (Allow Cracked Clients to Join)
Online mode is a server setting that determines if players need to authenticate through Mojang’s servers before connecting. This process confirms their login and allows access to profile skins. Certain server types, like BungeeCord child servers, don't function with online mode enabled, and players with cracked clients can't join. To use BungeeCord or allow cracked clients, you will need to disable online mode on your server. ::ProseNote{title="Warning" description="Disabling online mode means that players will not be authenticated by Mojang’s servers before they connect to your server. This means that anyone could log in to your server using any username they choose, and your server wouldn't verify they are who they say they are." appearance="error"} :: Important Notes As previously mentioned in the warning message, offline servers are insecure and could become a security nightmare if you are not careful. However, there are some options to help remedy this. If you are using a BungeeCord server, a plugin such as IPWhitelist will help mitigate risks. For Minecraft servers, a plugin like FastLogin would help, while modded servers could use a mod such as Simple Login. In addition to offline servers being insecure, your players will not have their profile skins visible, either, and everyone will appear as a default Minecraft skin. Again, this is because your server is not contacting Mojang’s authentication servers. You can use a plugin like SkinsRestorer to restore profile skins in your server if desired. --- Disabling Online Mode Please ensure you read the warnings above before following these steps! 1. Access your server's Control Panel and navigate to the Config tab. 2. Select . 3. Locate the field near the bottom of the configuration and tick to disable it. 4. Save the file, then restart your server. That's it! You have successfully disabled online mode for your server. Please keep in mind that disabling online mode makes your server vulnerable to attacks, as usernames are no longer verified.
How to Change the Difficulty of Your Minecraft Server
Minecraft servers have 4 levels of difficulty you can choose from, which are: Peaceful, Easy, Normal, and Hard. Here’s a brief summary of each difficulty level and the differences between them: Peaceful: Hostile mobs can not spawn naturally, except for a select few that do not deal damage to a player. Hostile mobs that try to spawn are removed from the game instantly. When switching to this difficulty level from any other level, all hostile mobs despawn. Player health is also restored much more rapidly at this level. Easy: Hostile mobs will spawn at this level, but they’ll do less damage than they would at the Normal level. Player health will not decrease if they are starved. Normal: Everything is standard at this level. Hostile mobs deal the standard damage, players’ health will deplete to 1 heart when they are starving, and villagers have a 1 in 2 chance of becoming a zombie when they are killed by one. Hard: Hostile mobs cause more damage than they would at the Normal level, players can starve to death, and villagers will become zombies when they are killed by one. In addition, zombies can break through wooden doors and spawn more zombies when attacked by players. ::ProseNote{title="Hardcore" description="If you're looking to change your server to hardcore, the steps will differ. See our guide on this here: How to enable hardcore on your server" appearance="default"} :: You can adjust your server's difficulty based on what you prefer. Below are the ways to do this. --- Using Commands The recommended method of changing your server's difficulty is by using commands, as this updates the world's difficulty in real time. Console Command This can be done in the Console tab of our control panel. - View the current difficulty set for the world. - Change the difficulty of the server. In-Game Chat Command The difficulty command can be used in-game as well. Do note that you must be a server operator to use the command in-game. - View the current difficulty set for the world in-game. - Change the difficulty of the server from in-game.